


if i'm not mistaken

by ericaismeg, foxerica (ericaismeg)



Series: omgcp [6]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Past Kent Parson/Jack Zimmermann
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 02:12:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10584282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericaismeg/pseuds/ericaismeg, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericaismeg/pseuds/foxerica
Summary: Eric has had a long day, and he really wishes Jack hadn't left all afternoon to hang out with his ex.





	

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted [here.](https://ericadays.tumblr.com/post/159396402312/value-me-jackbitty-whichever-way-you-want-or)

x x x

Eric shifts on his feet, tired from standing all day. He doesn’t even have energy to cover his mouth when he yawns as he does the dishes. He turns the tap off in the sink and closes his eyes for a moment. Good lord today had been a long day. He’d been up around 4:30am making breakfast before their hockey practice. Hockey practice had been tough today. Mostly because a lot of the guys were hungover, _and_  Eric had been checked at least twelve times. His sides hurt.

The rest of the morning was spent doing drills with the guys. Jack had pulled him aside from the rest of the team to go over some more checking techniques. It was great. Really. He loved spending time with Jack, but he kind of missed their one-on-one sessions. Jack had been a little too busy for them, and it bummed Eric out. Still, it had felt like they were the only two on the ice for that hour or so.

They’d come back to the Haus and Eric had taken charge of lunch. He made Ransom and Holster help him out, before he inevitably kicked them out because they were too busy flirting and making a mess. Lardo and Shitty came in to help him, and that was nice. Jack hadn’t come back with the team. Which is fine. Really.

But it’d meant that the Team Captain wasn’t there to calm down the arguments when Chowder dropped Nursey’s good luck charm and the glass part of it shattered. Not to mention the fact that Lardo and Shitty snuck out after lunch so they weren’t there to help control the guys. Then Ransom and Holster got into some disagreement over whether Dex should ask his crush out - and how.

By the time dinner came around, Eric had taken some money from their budget and ordered in food for those who were around. Chinese. Even though Lardo would totally disapprove of the choice, because she’d remind Eric that it only caused arguments with the guys. He didn’t care. He grabbed what he wanted and headed upstairs to his room.

Eric spent a couple hours watching a movie, but it was about some heterosexual couple falling in love and he wasn’t impressed. When he’d brought his dishes downstairs, he discovered that no one had done their dishes. It’s enough to make him want to scream. Instead, he starts doing them because he can’t stand a messy kitchen.

He leans his head forward, and sighs. He should’ve studied today, but honestly, it just wasn’t going to happen.

“Hey Bits,” a soft voice comes from the archway of the kitchen. He looks up to see Jack standing there. Jack looks almost as tired as he does. “Why are you doing the boys’ dishes?”

“Because,” he says, shrugging. “They’re never going to get done if I don’t.”

Jack shakes his head, pushing himself off the wall. “You’ve had a longer day than everyone else. C’mon, just leave the dishes to me.”

“No, no,” he says, shaking his head. “I don’t mind. It’s actually kind of nice.”

“Hmm?” Jack asks, stepping up beside him. He turns the tap back on and Eric finishes cleaning the bowl in his hand.  Jack grabs a dish towel and starts to dry. “After this, you’re going to bed, okay?”

“Sure,” Eric agrees. He doesn’t look at Jack when he quietly asks, “Were you with Parse today?”

Jack stills at the question. “Yes, but Bits, it’s not what you think.”

Eric wants to look at him, but he can’t. Instead, he picks up the next dish. Jack doesn’t owe him an explanation. Jack doesn’t owe him anything. He never has. But god, it stings a little knowing that Jack was with Kent Parson all day. The guy that almost destroyed his career. The guy that had definitely broken his heart. Jack had spent the day with _him._  When he could’ve been with the boys. Well, Eric anyway.

“I just don’t want him to hurt you,” Eric finally murmurs. 

“What? No, Bits, he can’t.”

Eric looks at him now. The words take him by surprise. “What are you talking about? Of course, he can. He was your first…”

 _Love._  But Eric doesn’t say the word aloud. He glances behind them, just to ensure no one else has walked in on them. Not everyone knows about Jack and Parse, and Eric doesn’t blame Jack for keeping it secret.

“I know, but he’s not going to hurt me, Bits. All of that is behind us now. We’re just friends. He apologized and I accepted. Because I’ve moved on from him.”

Eric nods, before yawning. He grabs the last bowl and scrubs it clean. “Good. Good, I’m glad to hear that. I’d hate to see him hurt you again.”

Jack nudges his elbow. “I appreciate that, Bits. I also appreciate how much work you put in around here. I heard about the arguments today. You handled yourself well.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s hard to believe you’re the same shy kid who started here,” Jack murmurs.

“Uh, should I be offended, Mr. Zimmerman?” Eric teases.

“No, no. It’s just you were more…I don’t know. Timid, I guess? And now, you’re running this house and taking care of everyone. It’s just, you’re pretty incredible, Bits.”

He swallows, turning off the tap. He’s finally finished with the dishes, and he yawns because he can’t help himself, but he isn’t quite ready to leave Jack’s side just yet. “Feel like watching a movie? No one’s using the TV in the living room.”

“I think you’re a bit tired, don’t you?”

Eric shrugs. “I might be able to last one movie.”

“If you fall asleep on me, I’m not carrying your scrawny butt upstairs.”

“Deal.” Then Eric, feeling a little daring, looks at Jack over his shoulder as he dries his hands. “But my butt isn’t scrawny.”

He wiggles it a little and Jack laughs. “ _You_  have been hanging around Shitty too much, kid.”

At the word _kid,_  Eric balks. God. He doesn’t want Jack Zimmerman to look at him as a _kid._  He wants him to think the sun shines out his scrawny ass. He fakes a yawn this time and says, “You know what? On second thought, I think I should probably get some sleep. I do have to get up early to go over next week’s schedule with Lardo and figure out when I can study.”

“Lardo doesn’t have class tomorrow. She won’t be up until noon.”

But Eric pretends he doesn’t hear. He tosses Jack the tea towel and rushes for the stairs without another look back. Eric is _so_  tired and yet he lies on his bed, staring at the ceiling for far too long.

 

x x x

 

 **JACK:** _can I talk to you alone sometime this week?_

 **ERIC:** _um, sure. why?_

 **JACK:** _just wanna make sure we’re cool._

 **ERIC:** _we’re cool. I’ve just been busy._

 **JACK:** _I’d feel better if we spoke in person._

 **ERIC:** _okay, I’ll be home soon?_

 **JACK:** _I’ll be in my room._

x x x

 

“Hey Bitty!” Lardo greets when he gets home. “How was your exam today?”

“Good, I think I did well. Um. Can you make sure no one comes looking for me…or Jack? He wants to talk.”

Lardo’s eyebrows shoot up but she nods. “You got it, Bitty. I’ll play your knight in shining armour.”

“Thanks,” he says, skipping up the stairs two at a time. He knocks softly on Jack’s door and hears a muffled noise. He assumes Jack said come in. So he pushes the door open, turning to shut it quietly, and set his bag down.

“Shit!”

Eric turns to catch a glimpse of Jack’s bare ass as he throws himself off the side of the bed.

“Oh god! Jack, I’m sorry, I thought you told me to come in–” Eric spins around. “I didn’t mean to…I’ll go.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I just had a shower and hadn’t gotten changed yet. Just. Hang on.”

Eric covers his eyes. God, he’s such a moron. He waits until Jack clears his throat and says it’s safe to turn around. When he does, he realizes that Jack’s only pulled on a pair of loose sweatpants. Eric swallows, because Jack’s hard. Whether he has any idea that his sweatpants show the hard-on or not, Eric doesn’t know. He lifts his eyes to meet Jack’s.

Jack then carefully puts on a shirt.  _Damn._

“You wanted to talk?” Eric asks.

“Yeah. C’mon. Sit.”

Eric drops his backpack onto the floor and tentatively makes his way over to Jack’s bed. He sits down on the desk chair instead of the bed, because he’s too chicken shit. Jack settles on the edge of the bed.

“I want to know what I did wrong. I’ve been trying to get Shitty to find out for me, but he refuses. He said that I have to ask you myself. So, I’m asking.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sunday night. You wanted to watch a movie and then something happened, and suddenly, you wanted to be no where near me.”

Eric shrugs. “I just realized how tired I was.”

“That’s not it. Listen, if you don’t want to tell me. That’s fine. But if you don’t, that means I can’t avoid making the same mistake again in the future. And you’ve become one of my closest friends, Bits. I don’t want to lose that.” Jack looks nervous. He’s rubbing his hands together and not quite reaching Eric’s gaze.

Eric rubs the bridge of his nose before he says, “It’s just…”

“Is it because I hung out with Kent? Because I want you to know the only reason I was with him is because…”

“Because? C’mon Jack. You say I’m one of your closest friends but you can’t open up to me about Kent Parson? I don’t want to pressure you or push you, but I wish you felt comfortable enough _talking_  to me about it. I don’t want to be rude or ungrateful, because you’ve been such a good friend to me. But god, Jack, I just…”

Jack reaches out and puts a hand on Eric’s knee. It’s enough to silence him. Jack sighs and says, “I was hanging out with Kent because I wanted to know what I did wrong.”

Eric’s eyebrows come together. “What? By all accounts, _you_  did nothing wrong in that relationship. _He_  fucked you over and you didn’t deserve it, and–”

“Bitty,” Jack says, softly. “Listen to me. A relationship that ends as horribly as ours did, well, it’s not always so straight forward. I wanted to know what I did because I didn’t want to make the same mistakes again.”

Eric looks away from Jack’s face. It’s just easier that way.

“With you, Eric. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes with you.”

He looks at Jack now. This was…well, this was unexpected. He presses his lips together and contemplates the meaning. He asks, so quietly Jack leans in closer to hear, “What did he say?”

Jack gives him a small smile. He wears a fond expression and his eyes seem softer now. Maybe because Eric isn’t running. He’s sitting here because he wants to know. Jack tilts his head. “He told me that my first mistake was coming to see him. And that I should’ve had this conversation with _you.”_

“He’s right,” Eric says, nodding. “Why didn’t you come to me?”

“I wasn’t sure. Of anything.” Jack glances down, and Eric follows his gaze. Their knees are so close to touching now. Both of them leaning closer into one another. “I didn’t want you to freak out. Or to think that I was trying to…make you uncomfortable. You’ve become one of my best friends and telling you that I have romantic and sexual feelings might be a little off-putting. Especially because I’m not sure what your sexual orientation is. And–”

“And if you had asked, I would’ve told you that I am so gay. Like, _so gay._  So gay that my high school literally through me a coming out party one weekend because they were all happy that I was finally comfortable with myself. And that happened in the _South._ ”

“Really?” Jack asks, laughing.

“Well, they threw a house party. And then there happened to be some drunken cheers about me being gay. So it wasn’t really a party for me, but it kinda became known as Bittle’s Party even though I didn’t host it.” Eric shakes his head. “Okay, none of that matters right now. What matters is that I’m gay. I’m gay and I’ve had the biggest crush on you since I got here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. What else did Kent Parson have to say?”

Jack grins. “He told me to make sure that you value me as much as I value you. And to not settle for any less. He also apologized to me again, and explained that I had very little to do with our break up. That I was a decent boyfriend. And that you would be very lucky to call me that.”

Eric reaches out now, grabbing his hands. “Well. I value you, Jack. I value our friendship and I would like to see where this goes. Because I think that Kent Parson is right. I would be very lucky to call you my boyfriend.”

“Will be,” Jack corrects. “If you want to be.”

“We have to have some rules though,” Eric says, holding up a finger to stop Jack from kissing him. Jack leans back immediately and waits. “One. You must be my guinea pig for all new pie recipes I come up with. Two. You must not go easy on me when we’re practicing checking because we’re now dating. And three. You must kiss me right now.”

“I think I can handle that,” Jack murmurs as he leans back in. Once his lips hit Eric’s, Eric can’t think straight. Not that he ever had. But all of his insecurities and doubts fly right out his head as he tugs on Jack’s shirt to pull him closer.

He then pushes Jack down onto the bed and gently straddles him. His fingers have the collar of Jack’s shirt gripped so tightly that he might be ripping it from the seams.

There’s a knock on the door.

They freeze, lips barely apart.

“It’s Lardo,” the familiar voice comes. “If y’all don’t get out here right now, the boys are gonna lose their shit. They’re in a big argument downstairs and apparently, only Bitty can settle it.”

“Lardo!” Eric shouts. “Tell them to grow up!”

“I tried. But there might be blood shed if you don’t get down here. Apparently, after they discovered that I like ducks, I’m no longer feared by them!”

Eric sighs. “Duty calls.”

“Once you’ve finished dealing with the kids, wanna come back up here and make out some more?”

Eric laughs. “As if I was going to do anything else. Silly.”

 

x x x

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr.](http://www.ericadays.tumblr.com)


End file.
